[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 102 (Wednesday, June 17, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S2891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         RECOGNIZING THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF LICK OBSERVATORY

  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize a jewel of 
American science and a California landmark: the Lick Observatory on 
Mount Hamilton. June 7, 2026, marked the 150th anniversary of the Act 
of Congress that reserved land for the construction of this observatory 
that has been the site of countless scientific discoveries.
  Established through the visionary philanthropy of James Lick, whose 
1874 endowment of $700,000, valued at over $1 billion today, laid the 
foundation for what is now the Lick Observatory, Lick Observatory was 
the world's first permanently staffed mountaintop observatory. When it 
opened in 1888, it housed the 36-inch Great Refractor, then the largest 
telescope on Earth, cementing California as an early epicenter of 
astronomical research.
  For 150 years, Lick Observatory has been the site of monumental 
breakthroughs. In 1892, its researchers achieved the first photographic 
discovery of a comet and identified a fifth moon of Jupiter. A 1922 
Lick Observatory eclipse expedition provided the empirical confirmation 
of Einstein's general theory of relativity, a moment that fundamentally 
shifted our understanding of the physical world.
  These innovations and discoveries continued into the 20th and now 
into the 21st century. In the 1990s, Lick Observatory pioneered 
adaptive optics to pierce through atmospheric distortion and was at the 
forefront of the search for exoplanets. Its robotic telescopes have 
monitored over 1,000 supernovae, which provided crucial data revealing 
the acceleration of the universe's expansion, a discovery honored with 
the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics.
  Today, operating under the University of California Observatories, 
Lick Observatory remains a vital keystone for education. It serves nine 
UC campuses and two national laboratories and partners with 
California's State universities and community colleges, training the 
next generation of scientists while inspiring tens of thousands of 
visitors through its outreach programs.
  The legacy of Lick Observatory exemplifies the pioneering American 
spirit and our enduring commitment to discovery. I ask my colleagues to 
join me in commemorating this 150th anniversary and honoring the 
observatory for its extraordinary contributions to humanity's 
understanding of the cosmos.

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